Side-slipping feeler mechanism



March 31, 1931. M. M. PAYNE- 9 18,-

SIDE SLIPPING FEELER MECHANISM Filed Feb. 7, 1950 Patented Mar. 31, 1931 PATENT OFFICE MARSHALL M. PAYNE, OF KANNAPOLIS; NORTH CAROLINA srnn-smrrn ve FEELER MECHANISM Application filedlebruary 7, 1930. Serial No. 426,683.

. This invention relates to improvements in side slipping weft detectors for looms, and it is a main object of the invention to simplify the construction of feelers of this type so that'an efficient and inexpensive detector may be constructed with a minimum number of parts.

Detectors of this type are employed in looms for the purpose ofpreventing a com- '10 plete exhaustion of the supply of weft or filling contained in the working shuttle upon the lay of the loom. They are designed to detect the arrival of apredetermined stage in the progressive'depletion of .the weft supply and to thereupon actuate actuating mechanism which will cause a change in the operation of the loom involving in some cases automatic replenishment of the working weft supply and in other cases involving a stop 7 '20 page of the loom so that the weft supply may be replenished. a

The present invention relates more particularly to depletion indicating and to weft feelers of that type which has a laterally 2 movable feeler tip whiehis held from lateral movement. through the engagement of the feeler tip with the weft supply'upon the bobbin as long as there 1s a safe supply of weft thereon butwhen the weft supply has 3o been almost depleted the feeler tip will slip along the weft carrier and thereby set in motion the actuating mechanism for replenislr ing the weft supply.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a sliding support for the detector which shall have a portion extending into the path of the transfer mechanism so that the detector may be moved to a position of 7 safety when the shuttle is being replenished.

The transfer mechanism moving the support for the detector will therefore also prevent repeated indications. from being given.

It is a still further object of theinvention to .provid-ea structure of this type in which '4? damaged or injured parts may be easily and quickly replaced at a minimum cost.

With these and other objects in viewwhich will appear as the'd'escription proceeds, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and set forth in the claims. In the accompanying drawings wherein a form of the invention at present preferred is shown.

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a-detector made according to the present invention showing the same in contact with a sufficient supply of weft and moved forwardly without giving indication of weft exhaustion.

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1, but with the detector moved laterallyalong a denuded bobbin and giving anindication of weft exhaustion,

Figure 3 is a side elevational view from the left of Figure 2 with parts broken away in order to show the construction more cleary Figure 4 is a front elevational View of the device as shown in Figure 1,

Figure 5 is an enlarged plan view of a detail, and

Figures 6 and 7 are views of a detail, taken respectively on lines 66 and 7''(' respectively of Figure 5.

Referring to V the drawings, the feeler stand indicated at 10 has a downwardly projecting lug 11 having an aperture 12 there.- through by means of which the feeler stand can be mounted upon the loom frame.

Upwardly extending flanges 13 and 14 are provided along the side edges of the feeler stand lO and serve asguides for the feeler slide 15. p The feeler slide 15 is provided with a longitudinally extending slot 16 through which a pin 17 extends having a head 18 with apertures 19 therein. The pin 17 is threaded through a threaded aperture 20 in the feeler stand and is locked in position by means of a lock washer' 21 and a nut 22. By means of the constructiondescribed, it is apparent that the height of the head 18 can be adjusted above the feeler stand. The head 18 is alsoiof greater width than the width of the slot 16 in the feeler guide. The pin 17 together with the slot 16 permits of longitudinal movement of the feeler slidewith relation to the feeler stand while at the same time maintaining the feeler slide in contact with the feeler stand. Projecting upwardly from the forward end of the feeler slide is a lug 23 to which is secured any desirable manner a coil spring 24, the other end of which is secured in one of the apertures 19 upon the head 18. The coil spring 24 maintains the feeler guide always in its rearward position.

A feeler pivot pin 25 is secured fixedly to the rear end of the feeler slide and preferably at one corner thereof and pivotally secured to the pin 25 is the detector 26 of the form shown in Figure 5 particularly. A retaining cap 27 is fixed to the pin 25 by the set screw 28 in order to secure the feeler 26. The feeler is provided with the usual detecting teeth 29 at one end thereof and with an enlarged por tion 30 at approximately the center thereof where the feeler is pivoted and with a finger 31 extending forwardly above the feeler slide. A tortion spring 32 is located within a pocket upon the cap 27 and has one end thereof secured to the cap 27 while the other end is secured to the feeler 26 so as to return the feeler 26 to the position shown in Figure 1 after it is moved laterally as shown in Figure 2.

The forward end of the feeler slide 15 has a the forward end thereof an offset lug 33 having a threaded aperture 34 therein in which is threaded the adjusting screw 35 which is locked in position by the lock nut 36. The rearward end of the adjusting screw 35 con tacts with an abutment 37 provided upon the feeler stand.

Upon the other side of the feeler slide is provided an offset lug 38 having an up wardly extending extension 39 and the side guide 13 is cut away as shown at 40 to accommodate the movement of the lug 38 when the feeler slide is moved forwardly upon a weft detecting beat or when the slide is moved out of the way by the transfer mechanism upon a bobbin replenishing beat. The transfer mechanism is shown in Figure 1 at T.

At the rearward end of the feeler slide a laterally offset lug 41 is located having an upwardly extending extension 42 which is threaded to accommodate the stop bolt 43 which is secured in place by the lock nut 44. By means of this stop bolt the swing of the finger 31 upon the feeler to the right as shown in Figure 5 can be accurately and properly adjusted. The feeler stand is cut away as shown at 45 to accommodate the movement of lug 41.

The guide flange 13 has provided upon the rear end a laterally projecting extension 46 to which is secured by means of the screw 47 threaded into an aperture 48 in the extension 46, the actuating lever guide member 49. The actuating lever 50 has a square shank portion 51 which extends through a rectangular slot 52 provided in the lever guide member 49. The actuating lever terminates in a head 53 and a coil spring 54 is located between the head 53 and the inside wall of the lever guide member 49 and this spring acts to return the actuating lever after it has been moved and has given a weft replenishing indication. The lever guide member 49 and the top edge of the guide flange 13 are provided with cooperating shoulders 55 in order to prevent any pivoting movement of the lever guide member. By means of this construction the actuating lever can be removed and a new actuating lever insert-ed merely by unscrewing the bolt 47 and removing the lever guide member 49. It will be noted that due to the cooperating shoulders, the top edge of the guide flange 13 serves as a bottom support for the actuating lever and it is merely necessary to provide a rectangular slot 52 to enclose the other three sides of the actuating lever.

In operation the advancing supply of weft B in shuttle S will engage the detector and if sufiicient yarn is present the detector will move forwardly as indicated in Figure 1, expanding spring 24 and leaving'the actuating or indicating lever 50 in the position shown. As the lay recedes, the spring 24 will contract and move the feeler slide rearwardly. When the supply of weft is practically exhausted however, the detector will slip as shown in Figure 2 and pivot upon the pin 25 and force the finger 31 upon the detector against the head 53 of the indicating lever and move the indicating lever 50 to the left as shown in Figure 2 against the action of the spring 54. Further advance of the lay will move the feeler slide forwardly.

Upon the replenishing beat of the lay the transfer mechanism T will strike the lug 39 and move the feeler slide forwardly and thereby withdraw the detector from the path of the incoming bobbin. This movement of the feeler slide is effected with the finger 31 innormal position so that indication of weft exhaustion is not repeated.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have provided a structure of extreme simplicity while at the same time a structure in which the various elements can be easily and quickly removed when worn or injured and replaced with new elements.

It will be evident that various changes and modifications may be made in the device above described without however departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A side slipping weft detector for looms comprising a feeler stand, guide flanges upon said stand, a slide located between said flanges, a detector pivotally mounted upon said slide, an actuating lever adapted to be operated by said detector upon lateral movement of said detector due to a substantially exhausted weftsupply, a shoulder upon one of said guide flanges, a removable member secured to said stand having a shoulder thereon cooperating with said first named shoulder and said member having a slot therein through which said actuating lever extends whereby said actuating lever is slidingly supported between said member and said flange.

2.- A. side slipping weft detector for looms comprising a feeler stand, guide flanges upon said stand, a slide located between said flanges, a detector pivotally mounted upon said slide, an actuating lever adapted to be operated by said detector upon lateral movement of said detector due to a substantially exhausted weft supply, a removable member secured to said stand supporting said actuating lever, and a compression spring cooperating with said removable member for returning said actuating lever to normal position after giving an indication.

3. A side slipping weft detector comprising a feeler stand, a slide mounted upon said stand, a detector mounted upon said slide, means cooperating with said detector to give an indication of Weft exhaustion, said slide having a slot therein, means secured to said stand projecting through said slot for main taining said slide and stand in assembled re lation, and spring means secured to said projecting means and said slide for normally maintaining said slide in rearward position. r

4. A side slipping weft detector compris ing a feeler stand, a slide mounted upon said stand, a detector mounted upon said slide, means cooperating with said detector to give an indication of weft'exhaustion, said slide having a slot therein, means secured to said stand projecting through said slot, spring means secured to said projecting means and to said slide for normally maintaining said slide in rearward position, and adjustable means upon said slide cooperating with said,

stand to limit the extent of rearward movement of said slide. Y

5. A side slipping weft detector for looms comprising a feeler stand, a slide mounted upon said stand, a detector pivotally mounted upon said slide, spring means for maintaining said detector in normal position, means carried by said slide for adjusting, said normal position of said detector, means upon said stand for maintaining said slide and stand in assembled position, spring means cooperating with said "last named means-and said slide for maintaining said slide normally in rearward position and indicating means adapted to be operated by said detector upon lateral movement'thereof due toxa depleted weft supply.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

MARSHALL M. PAYNE. [11, s.]. 

